California Racers Hall Of Fame Night: August 15th, Perris Auto Speedway
26 wingless warriors adorned the pits at The Pas all in hopes of claiming some of the extra $$ that had been collected by Chris Holt as he and the track gave kudos to many of the racers of the past years. It was such a pleasure in seeing numerous drivers faces that graced CRA & SCRA over the years.
To kick off the evenings events was qualifying, with The Woodland Museum's $100.00 for quick qualifier. Joining in honoring " The Quick Time Award" was the Wilkerson family - who posted a stout additional $ 500.00!!! Jake was 3rd out to run againest the ticking clock and sat at quick time until Damion Gardner and Mike Spencer rolled out. It was Spencer that received the additional bonus -- Jake had the Kistler powered engine humming as he drove the Moosemobile to 3rd quick! As in old Ascot days there was a Trophy Dash, the 4 fastest cars -- and yeah, there was Jake in the Moosemobile, such an honor. The donation from Bill Simpson and Jr Kurtz had a tidy $2000.00 for winner take all!! It was Richard Vanderweerd that cashed in. A " Mystery Envelope" was slated for the 3rd place car in the dash --- and yeap, you got it, it was presented to Jake.
Heat race competition was going to be fierce, as Mark Atchison from AMA Plastics had also thrown his sponsorship into the hat, those that won the 3 heat races each collected $350.00!! Wow.. the dollars at this event are adding up!!
Jake didn't win his heat, but was awesome as he brought the car home in a direct transfer spot for the Main Event.
With the temperatures soaring over 100 degrees here was luckily a pleasant breeze that circulated all day. Had it not been for that breeze, the day would of been intolerable, but ... strong breezes, dries out tracks. The awesome Perris crew did all they could to intermittly water the track and did so right before the Main Event. As 23 cars took to the track they were advised to take many hot laps to work in the water - all of a sudden coming over the speakers was that there were 3 cars spun in turn 4 --- and the Moosemobile was one of them!! Team Moose, does it again, somehow they were able to drill out a seized bolt in the last second to get the car pushed off, before the field was ready to into the Fan Salute of 4 wide. A special thank you to Ronnie Gardner as he helped the awesome Moose Team in getting the car back on the track. Luckily for the 3 cars involved, they were all able to join the field in ther earned positions, due to the fact that the field had not been in line up format when the tangle happened.
Starting 3rd row inside ... the race was on, as all th stop runners were aiming for all the additional $$ that would be presented, lap money, for each lap lead, plus bonus!! Jake running strongly in 4h, a yellow flag was displayed for the 2nd place car - moving Jake to 3rd!! Restart -- an incredible move by Jake had him whizzing past the 2nd place car --- and on the throttle of Kistler Engine. Gaining and gaining on the leader, Damion, on the back straightway the car suddenly veered towards the inside wall and came to a stop.- SISSLEFRAZZLEUZRFRASS!!!! A word added to the vocabulary in place of the 4 letter word that is not acceptable to write here, What the Heck??!!
As the clock had been ticking when the crew thrashed after the tangle, there was not even a second to spare, and the brake line didn't get zip tied back - unbelievable that that line moved and somehow wrapped itself around the combo steering arm, locking the steering. Heading straight for the inside wall, somehow the car came to stop just before striking that wall!! Needless to say that it was devastating!! Hard to believe that attitude and overall mood of the Moose Crew was still all smiles and uplifting, knowing that Jake and the car were working together as one and definitely had the speed.
On to the next one... California Sprint Week, starting with 2 nights in Calistoga!!!
Again thank you to Chris Holt for all his work in putting this event together, to all the people that pledged $$ to make this a grand event and of coarse to The Gang at The Pas for another stellar event.